The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America

by Tappan Adney; Howard Irving Chapelle

The end profile varied with the tribe of the builder. Chipewyan canoes had a very long end profile fore-and-aft; the heel was angular, and the outline of the stem then swept forward in an easy curve to a height about two-thirds the depth of the canoe amidships, then began to tumble in a little, the curve becoming gradually sharper until the head was reached. The stem-head in its fore-and-aft length was almost one third the height of the ends and was roughly parallel to the bottom of the canoe directly beneath it. Because of the rocker of the bottom, the after end of the head was thus lower than the fore end. The sheer was faired up to the after end of the head in a short, quick curve. Usually the outwales were cut off short of this point, but in some canoes they were brought up along with the inwales to the stem-head. Wedges were used in making up the gunwale-end lashings in both the Chipewyan and Dogrib canoes; these served to tighten the lashings and formed a sort of breasthook. In a few examples of the Athabascan type, the stem-pieces were of cedar root without lamination; this use of the roots enabled the angular form of the plank-on-edge stems to be retained. It cannot be determined whether the root stem-pieces were part of the old Athabascan technique or were an importation from the western Cree. The lashing in these canoes followed the forms used in the fur-trade canoes—long-and-short turns in groups generally triangular in shape, with a spiral turn between groups.

Figure 146

Plank-Stem Canoes of Hybrid Forms, 3-Fathom Slavey (top) and 2½-fathom Algonkin-type Athabascan, probably the results of the influence of fur-trade canoe-building.

The canoes of the Dogrib were practically identical with those of the Chipewyan except that the end profiles were usually slightly deeper fore-and-aft; also the Dogrib canoes were perhaps more often of birch bark, judging from the remaining canoes and models. The form of the ends in the Dogrib canoes was such that they often appeared higher than they really were, as the stem-heads stood some distance above the ends of the sheer, an effect which was heightened by the small fore-and-aft depth of the stem-heads.

The large canoes of the Slave had the same hull characteristics as the others but differed in end profiles and did not have rail caps. In the Slave canoe, the ends were formed of thin plank and in profile were almost upright and slightly curved. The stem line came out from the bottom in a sharp, almost angular curve and ascended with a slight sweep to a point about level with the gunwale amidships (in some, to within a few inches of the stem-head); from there a tumble-home carried it to the stem-head, which was short fore-and-aft and slightly crowned, the inboard end dropping vertically downward inside the gunwales. The headboards were under the gunwale ends. Inwales and outwales were both carried to the stems but the end lashings were quite short. There were no rail caps. The bark cover was lashed to the stem with an in-and-out stitch from side to side through holes in the plank. The sheer was brought up nearly to the top of the stem in a rather long, easy sweep beginning inboard at the endmost thwart.

The gunwale members in all these Athabascan canoes were quite light compared with their Eastern counterparts. A reinforcing strip of bark was placed under the outwales so as to hang down below them some four inches or so amidships and less toward the ends; this was sometimes decorated with a painted zigzag stripe or with widely spaced circles. The end lashings of the gunwales were protected by short bark deck pieces inserted under the caps. The edges of these deck pieces were trimmed flush with the outboard edges of the caps, so that no wulegessis resulted.

In spruce-bark canoes, because the bark was stiff the ribs were spaced 6 to 8 inches, whereas in birch-bark canoes the ribs were spaced about as usual, 1 to 2 inches edge to edge. In the Dogrib and Slave canoes the ribs were without taper; in the Chipewyan there was usually a slight taper from the bottom to the gunwale end. The ends of the ribs were forced under the gunwales in the usual manner employed in the east, the gunwales being rectangular in cross-section, with the lower outboard corner beveled.

The thwarts were all parallel-sided, but tapered toward the ends, in elevation. The thwart ends were tenoned into the inner gunwale and usually had two holes in each end for the lashings.

In the bark cover the horizontal sewing was often over root battens. In many canoes rawhide was used in much of the lashing and sewing, and in the last-built bark canoes the end lashings of the gunwales were often protected by a decking formed of a small triangular sheet of metal, obtained from a large can and crimped along its edges so as to clamp the bark and main gunwales. When this metal deck-piece was used, the cap and outwale ended against the inboard edge of it.